Indonesia: Aceh Shuts own 16 Places of Worship
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
JAKARTA, INDONESIA (Worthy News)– Since May, the Aceh administration has shut down 16 Christian places of worship in Singkil, claiming they were operating without permits and causing complaints.
Called “undung-undung,” the buildings are smaller than churches and have no visible crosses.
“It’s not churches, but undung-undungs that we’ve sealed,” Aceh Singkil district head Razali Abdul Rahman told the Jakarta Globe. “It’s because they don’t have any permits and because they’ve breached a previously agreed deal … that there should be only one church and four undung-undungs in Singkil.”
On April 30, hundreds of Muslims held a rally to demand the closing of the undung-undungs, but Razali said his administration acted independently of their demands.
“It has nothing to do with the rallies,” he said. “This is a move to maintain public order because the houses of worship have no permits and breach the regulation.”